


Through An Open Door

by Essi



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Fluff, No Angst, RebelCaptain May the Fourth Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-23 18:03:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18707155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Essi/pseuds/Essi
Summary: 2019 Rebelcaptain May the 4th gift for SadieAndor.Prompt: Jyn celebrates Cassian's birthday.





	Through An Open Door

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SadieAndor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SadieAndor/gifts).



> My first fic published in the Rogue One fandom & RebelCaptain community. And my first on AO3 since 2014 - yikes, time goes by fast... but I still don't own anything. (and apologies in advance for inconsistencies in my writing.)
> 
> Sadie, I hope you enjoy! <3

To the universe, time is irrelevant. Every planet has a distinct rotation to its system; star systems are in different stages across the Galaxy.

The distance and depth of the Galaxy extends to sentients: every group is unique. They each have their own relationships with time.

For civilised humans, time is a social construct. 

K2-SO, reprogrammed by a human, understands the construct of human timelines. Including the value of historical events.

There are only a few records of the Festian time and date of Cassian Andor’s birth, and fewer sentients - and droids! - know it.

Kay knows.

Jyn Erso does not.

 

Judging by the Coruscanti time standardised by Home One, it's the odd spell between late night and early morning. 

Anyone operating on the day shift (and in their right mind) is asleep.

Jyn is about to join them, but Kay stops her in the corridor between the communal freshers and her bunk. 

“Sergeant Jyn Erso.”

_Kriff,_ that _tone_.

She turns to face the droid and crosses her arms. “Yes?”

“Your recent behaviour has been disgraceful.”

“And?”

“Your treatment of Cassian has always been erratic, but I unwisely calculated in your favour of being kinder to him while inebriated.”

“Inebriated?” Jyn balks. “I don’t get drunk after a few Corellian shots.”

“You only projectile vomit when inebriated or ill. And if you were ill, you wouldn’t have laughed after getting sick all over Cassian’s shirt.”

“I didn’t laugh!” Jyn protests.

She _chortled_ after vomiting, not laughed. Baze was laughing because she had boasted about out-drinking them, then Cassian took off his shirt, and then Chirrut made a quip that made her cough.

Yes, she chortled because Chirrut said something funny. Definitely nothing to do with shirtless Cassian.

“Alright, I had too much. But I won’t admit that I was rude to Cassian unless you tell me why you’re so hung up about it. _He_ didn’t care. He loves doing laundry.”

“A confession? Fair enough. But you MUST NOT let anyone or any _thing_ know this information. And Cassian cannot know I told you.”

“What?” Jyn raises her eyebrows, but the droid is obstinate as a baby bantha. “Whatever. I swear. Just karking get on with it.”

She’s too tired for a cyclical conversation. And anyway, Kay is just going to give her some weird possessive reason why she’s bothered Cassian again.

But he bears down and grips her shoulders. Jyn’s body alerts and she automatically opens to her biggest stance.

In a low tone Kay says, “You, Jyn Erso, you ruined my friend’s birthday.”

Well. She didn’t expect that one.

“What? No one told me.” _Cassian didn’t tell me._ “Why didn’t you say something? You could’ve cut off my drinks, or shut me up…” 

Neither are options she would’ve taken well, but… it was Cassian’s birthday? He didn’t seem different at all.

Kay doesn’t answer her, ignoring the opportunity to boast his superior knowledge.

“The Captain’s wellbeing is paramount. His emotional vulnerability increases on his birthday. Yet you gave him the worst gruel, cracked one of his datapads, discomforted his spine by jumping on his back, and vomited on his best shirt.”

Jyn shrinks with every recount. It was all supposed to be silly. Wartime soldier pranks. But maybe it wasn’t fun all at once.

She can reason half of them. She was late to mess and could only bring him shitty gruel while he was stuck in comms. Besides, it wasn’t her duty to feed him. The datapad was _sort of_ an accident.

Alright, the last two were avoidable. But she didn’t mean to hurt him.

_Ugh, Kay’s right_.

She wasn’t a very good friend today. Jyn slumps against the wall, resigned. Thank kriff no one’s in the corridor to witness this.

“I was rude. To Cassian on his birthday. Is there anything else you want?”

“Cassian never notifies anyone of his birthday. So don’t tell anyone, especially him, that I revealed it to you. Or I will dismember you.”

Jyn doesn’t badger him about the threat or how he’d know if she snitched. If this is something sacred to Cassian, she’ll keep it a secret.

 

_One Year Later_

The day starts as close to normalcy the Rebellion and Echo Base can provide.

Jyn wakes up _not cuddling_ with Cassian in his bed. (It’s cold and her bunkmates snore.)

She spends ten minutes debating whether to sneak out before his alarm goes off before deciding it’s more logical to huddle for warmth for as long as possible.

Five minutes later the chrono wakes Cassian up and in the next second he always flinches, like he doesn’t expect her to still be here.

Half the morning crowd complain about the cold and fatigue. The other half sweat about the gossip spreading about Imperial probes and wampa horror stories.

And the greatest sign of normalcy is that the day really begins when a quarrel between Leia and Han escalates and the base vibrates to life.

 

Everything is normal until the end of the morning briefing. 

After dismissal Draven pulls Cassian aside, which can be normal, except there’s a contortion on Draven’s face Jyn hasn’t seen before. It could be mistaken for a smile, but she knows better. Cassian walks side by side with the General with a relaxed gait. He doesn’t even sweep his eyes over the room.

She doesn’t see him after he disappears with Draven; she will have to wait until later to question him about it.

 

Jyn ends combat training with recruits early.

(She really should stop asking cocky recruits to demonstrate with her, but it’s still satisfying to maintain a reputation. She just needs to stop putting them in the medbay.)

Arriving at the mess early for lunch means the protein mash is warm and the hall is relatively empty.

Jyn has the luxury to choose a decent table. Her favourite is near a vent in the corner.

Except two people already occupy it.

Cassian has a tray and a cup of caf but is ignoring it in favour of listening to Princess Leia.

Leia doesn’t have any food. Once she notices Jyn staring inelegantly, Leia straightens from where their heads were bent together. After a few more words, Leia waves to Jyn and leaves the mess hall.

Cassian smiles when Jyn sits across from him - a real smile, not like Draven’s grimace this morning.

They talk about their mornings. Cassian was piecing together intel from contacts in three different star systems. She tells him the basic maneuvers that fractured a recruit’s metatarsal and broke their wrist.

Midway through her caf Jyn asks: “What did Leia want?” _It’s only natural to - casually - ask._

Thankfully he doesn’t seem to mind.

“We were talking about her family. No one in the Alliance, she doesn’t have any relatives left. Rebels orphan easily,” Cassian scoffs.

Jyn doesn’t have any family left; Cassian and Leia aren’t alone.

_(Isn’t it the point that the Rebellion is their family now?)_

“Oh. So you were talking about her parents?”

He nods.

She knows Cassian was under Bail Organa in that Fulcrum thing, though getting more details is hard. And Bodhi told Jyn that Luke once overheard Leia and Cassian laughing about her childhood, smoothly switching between Basic and Alderaanian.

“Did she give you an old directive from Bail?” _Casual interest._

Something flickers over Cassian’s face. He responds, “No. It was about her adoptive mother.”

Her eyes musn’t be casual enough to hide her interest because when Cassian meets her gaze he elaborates.

“A decade ago today Queen Breha had a formal dinner. Leia remembered a conversation they had that evening. About me,” Cassian looks down at his plate. He’s expecting her to tease him.

But Jyn’s thinking about a year ago today and it dawns on her that Kay said it was Cassian’s birthday.

Cassian must be 28 today, so a decade ago was his 18th birthday. A landmark age stretching from the Core to Outer Rim human societies.

She clears her throat. “Was it a special dinner?”

“Princess Leia remembers it. But I wouldn’t know if it was special. That was the only gala I wasn’t undercover for, and Draven attended.” He laughs, “I was so uncomfortable.”

Bodhi joins them with a lukewarm tray. “What’s uncomfortable?”

“Formal parties,” Cassian grimaces.

“Oh, don’t get me started on buffets…”

 

Draven and Leia celebrated Cassian’s birthday. It was a secret between them, but their affection was open. And Cassian was fond of it.

It hurts. He obviously welcomed affection from old companions on his birthday.

Jyn doesn’t have anything precious to offer Cassian except being extra kind to him for the rest of the day. Give over more of the blanket tonight, maybe even wish him goodnight out loud.

It will have to be enough.

Caring always hurts. Force, she can’t stop caring about him.

She can’t keep this swell of emotions inside anymore.

Next year will be different.

 

_Cassian’s 35th Birthday_

Jyn bounds up the hillside.

He’s been gone for two hours, and she’s looked everywhere else, so he must be on the other side of the hill from their house.

It’s only accessible by a steep path that ends at a ledge sticking out two metres from a perilous fall to the rocky shore. No one else goes there, making a perfect hiding place.

It used to be Cassian’s favourite place to clear his head and watch the world after a busy trip to the marketplace or a loud pyro display.

 

Jyn hears two voices when she slows to catch her breath before she reaches the peak. Sleeping in is a mistake she will regret when her first parent race on school sports day arrives. Losing to an ex-Pathfinder or hells, a former recruit, is not an option.

_“- okay to kiss Poe? Rey says he’s my cousin, but he’s not.”_

_What?_

“Hey! What are you two doing here?”

Jyn towers over them before jumping down to help Cassian hold onto Annis before she topples over the cliff in surprise.

“Force, Cass! You’re not as karking cautious as you used to be.”

Despite the fact they almost lost their adventurer again, Cassian grins.

“I thought you didn’t want me to worry you into a panic anymore.”

“Mmm… At least you still fret when Jac doesn’t cry every five minutes.”

“Mama! What are doing here?” The five year old twists her arms.

Jyn runs her hands over her daughter’s dark braids.

“Everyone’s waiting.”

Cassian only shows his hesitation for a second, but Annis latches onto it immediately.

“I can go by myself. Jac _needs_ me, Mama.”

Her father’s joints creak when he stands up.

“We’ll walk back together.”

The adults scale the peak behind her and descend the hill slowly, watching the young girl run too quickly and fall.

_“Kriff!”_

Jyn shouts: “Annis!”

Cassian laughs.

“In the medbay Chirrut said she’s her mother’s daughter.”

They walk and watch their first born run past the gate keeping animals out of the vegetable garden behind the house. Once she closes it, Cassian sits on the grassy hill.

“What are you doing?”

“Catching my breath,” He says plainly.

“Shut up. You know you can't let me down in the parent’s race.”

“I know. I just want to wait a few more minutes before we go in. Annis will tell the others we’re coming.”

“Then you're on for training with me?” Jyn joins him.

Cassian leans back on his elbows. “For the race? Give me incentives. And painkillers. Possibly a bacta patch.”

She rolls her eyes. “I’m not giving you incentives for the next six months.”

“Then I’ll start training a month before.” He side eyes her. “It’s almost as if you need to find competition in everything.”

“Kes won it last year. And he broke my long distance record when we were stuck on Geonosis.” Jyn dramatically falls onto her back.

“We’ve had worse competition.”

Jyn turns her head, scowling.

Cassian pouts.

“It’s my birthday. Let’s talk about something else before I have to talk to our friends about training regimes appropriate for ‘humans my age’.”

Jyn giggles mischievously and rolls over to hover on top of him.

“What about the first time we celebrated your birthday?”

“Perfect. For the five minutes we have before the little nugget storms out here.”

 

Indulgences post-Endor are far greater than they used to be. Indulgences that were previously given for birthday gifts are now… familiar, accepted as part of everyday life. 

Retelling old stories, sharing happy memories, having firsts with each other.

 

Cassian Jeron Andor was born on Fest’s darkest day, the solstice in the middle of three standard months without sunrise or sunset.

Jyn Erso was born in a prison, entering the universe with a fiery force already learning how to escape.

His father left him with righteous anger and a rock in his hand.

Her mother left her with a crystal round her neck and a stranded heart.

They can’t walk through doors to return to what’s long gone.

 

 

Together, they go into the house.

**Author's Note:**

> title from 'Going Home', traditional. last line adapted from "An Acceptable Time", Madeleine L'Engle.


End file.
